Biographies

Robin Bernhard and Wade Davenport

Robin and Wade have been interested in co-housing for some time, especially as a nice way to wind down and enjoy community with others after having very busy careers. Robin has been a social worker in private practice for 35 years with specialties in trauma and neurofeedback. Wade has been a college faculty member and administrator. Robin currently works in her office space downtown which she co-owns and shares with other complementary medical practitioners. Wade and Robin share interests in yoga, organic gardening, and hiking. Robin’s interests also include her horses and a variety of crafts. Wade. Wade is currently involved in research and writing and has interests in community development, architectural design and sustainability. Over the next decade, Robin and Wade hope to spend more time enjoying one another, three grown children, two grandchildren, and two horses. Robin and Wade both look forward to being part of the Emerson Commons Community.

Lynn Heath

​Lynn is a mother of three and grandmother to four, currently spread from Minnesota to Germany. She recently retired from the University of Virginia, hoping to downsize and do more traveling. A life-time crafter, she loves quilting and considers her stash of fabric an integral part of her retirement plan. Lynn is still cooking in family-size batches and looks forward to sharing her sometimes experimental soups with her co-housing neighbors. As a homebody who resists making plans, she knows that co-housing will make social contacts easier. Especially co-housing with a pool!

James and Rebecca Gammon and family

James is a music producer, focusing on collegiate a cappella singing. He started recording and mixing in his last years at UVA, asking his friends' groups to pay if they liked his work, and he's still at it 13 years later. James loves to have people over to play card games or watch sports, especially if they're rooting for the Wahoos. He also plays the keyboard in a local band or two. Rebecca is a stay-at-home mom to her three-year-old son, Connor. A short time ago she worked in marketing at a tech company, and still works on projects for them on some evenings. Rebecca enjoys experimental cooking, reading, sleeping in (ha!) and watching a great show on Netflix. James and Rebecca both knew they wanted a stronger sense of community, but until finding out about cohousing, they didn't know how that might be possible. They are looking forward to a more connected social life, and are excited for their son to grow up in a community where it's possible to have friends of all ages.

Cathey Polly

Cathey Polly has spent the last 43 years in education. As a Montessori directress at the outset, she moved into elementary education in Orange County, Florida. Then joined the math faculty at Valencia Community College in Orlando after receiving her Master's in 1985. She is currently a visiting professor for the online division of Everest University, based in Lakeland, Florida.

She is the mother of two beautiful daughters Amanda and Jennifer, and mother-in-law to loving Jeff, who all reside in Richmond. Her heart work is sharing the principles of conscious parenting (and grandparenting), which are described beautifully at The Child Project.

Amelia Hughes, Nick Weatherton and family

Amelia and Nick moved to Virginia in 2014 after escaping the suburban sprawl of Chicago. Nick is a clinical pharmacist in a Veterans Affairs primary care clinic. He works with patients to combat diabetes, high blood pressure and other chronic diseases. Amelia is currently a stay-at-home mom to their one year old adventure baby, Gabby, and has her sights set on the Masters program in Architectural History at UVA. She also has a hobby Etsy shop selling vintage clothing and housewares. Nick, Amelia and Gabby enjoy hiking, camping, and international travel. They recently discovered the concept of cohousing and are excited about the potential of living in a community where they feel more connected and neighbors are also friends.

Laura and Steve Bates and family

Laura is yoga enthusiast, makes a mean pumpkin muffin, and napping is one of her best skills. Steve is uncomfortable writing about himself and wishes I would stop asking him to describe himself in one sentence. Steve and Laura both enjoy a good surprise and not too long ago, the universe got them with one of the greatest surprises of all time...twins!

They've been lucky to have experienced many adventures already - from swimming with elephants in Chiang Mai, to learning to make (real) cider in Gloucester, to setting off on a road trip with nothing more than their dogs, a map and some camping gear. And now they look forward to their next adventure, raising a family.

After living in big cities for the last decade, they'd like their kids to grow up in a place where they can see mountains and play in streams, a place where they know their neighbors, and a place where they have the freedom to explore. They'd like to live in a place where they are part of a community, where they can live smaller, and where they can walk to a brewery. Emerson Commons is that place!

p.s. For money Laura does business stuff and Steve does research or something. They look forward to their first retirement and spending more time on things they love.

Brian and Mary Combs and family

Brian lives all things beer as the Operations Manager and Music Coordinator at Pro Re Nata Farm Brewery in Crozet. Mary is a graduate student at the University of Virginia (and would love to be a professional student when she grows up though she knows this is not a lucrative endeavor). Harrison is going to be an astronaut someday. Or a fireman. These days, he contents himself with running around outside and picking up all of the sticks. All of them.

Brian and Mary both grew up in "old fashioned neighborhoods" where you knew your neighbors and kids played together outside everyday without having to set up (gasp) playdates. They look forward to Harrison having that same opportunity with his friends at Emerson Commons!

Scott, Anna and Ezra

Scott, Anna, and Ezra are thrilled to be joining Emerson Commons. We've lived at Takoma Village Cohousing in Washington, DC, for the past three years. We fell in love with cohousing over that time, and we are so excited to get to be part of the planning for a new community.

Anna and Scott met in DC in 2006, got married in 2007, and Ezra, our daughter, joined us in 2009. Anna has been a teacher, a quilter, a costume designer, and a thrift store devotee. Scott is a baseball fan (go Dodgers!) and has spent most of his professional life working in education. Ezra is in second grade ("Not for long!" she reminds me), and she loves adventures, music, and our new dog, Jeffrey. We look forward to getting to know all of our new neighbors and finding ways that we can contribute to this great community!

Ibolya Ignat

Ibolya moved to the Maryland suburbs of Washington DC from Europe in 1990. She grew up spending summers on her grandmother's off the grid self sufficient farm in rural Transylvania where she learned to love the land, the forest, the rivers and the stars. Ibolya has been visiting and scoping out Cohousing communities for the last few years, a journey, discovery of sorts.

Ibolya loves hiking and is excited about all that Crozet has to offer: tranquility, peace and quiet, walks in the forests and around the lakes and a serene backdrop to what she hopes Emerson Commons will become: a thriving, healthy, collaborating, vibrant community.

Joshua Levine

Joshua is a devotee of life-long learning, intergenerational relationships, and community building. With a background in both environmental education, and the healing arts (primarily massage therapy), he brings his gifts wherever he travels. Dancing, singing, storytelling, and living an examined life are some of Joshua's other passions. Born overseas, and raised in Europe (till age 7) and then mostly in Washington, D.C., Joshua considers relationships, and clear communication above all else. He stumbles, makes mistakes, harvests lessons like a good human, and is excited to make life-long connections with folks of all ages, inspiring health, wellness, and raising the bar for what is possible for living an authentic, and inspired life.

Adrienne Carlée​

Adrienne has lived in Ivy for 21 years and considers the Ivy/Crozet area home. It is time for her to downsize and Emerson Commons is the perfect fit for meeting those practical needs, as well as for being part of a caring, interactive community. And how wonderful to be in such a lovely place nestled in nature.

She retired five years ago after 33 years as an acupuncturist. Her life is a simple one now with swimming, walking, gardening, reading, and hanging out with friends. She looks forward to sitting on her front porch with E.C. friends and helping out with the gardening. She actually likes weeding!

Matt and Mandy Smith and family

​Matt and Mandy are moving to join the Emerson Commons community from Jackson, Mississippi with their 2.5 year-old son, Starr, and half-time with Matt's 8-year-old son, Simon. Matt and Mandy met while in grad school at Vermont College of Fine Arts, and both hold MFAs in writing for children and young adults. Matt is the author of two picture book biographies for middle grade readers (Small Wonders and Lighter Than Air) and works as a mapmaker for a small firm in Jackson. He is also an avid birder and naturalist. Mandy has dreamed of living in cohousing for many years and looks forward to networking and becoming an active member of the national movement. She currently works at home raising Starr and running a women's boutique clothing business. She loves to learn and share about natural wellness and hopes to pursue opportunities for further education in areas such as nutrition and yoga.

Kat Potter

​Kat is returning home to Virginia and coming to Emerson Commons after being in Boston (+ Rwanda) for the past 13 years. The mountains are invigorating and soothing to her and she looks forward to walking barefoot without worry of broken glass on the sidewalk.

One of Kat's main passions is dancing, not that she's especially talented in any particular form, but music and movement reach inside, and she seeks dancing opportunities and communities wherever she goes. In the professional realm she has been doing research as an atmospheric scientist, building/deploying instrument systems to measure greenhouse gases and the like. This is what took her to Rwanda for several years, and now she is proudly watching and supporting her Rwandan colleagues run their observatory station with ease and insight.

The Blue Ridge Mountains have an uncanny resemblance to the rolling mountains of Rwanda. In coming across Emerson Commons and the community there, she had an immediate knowing that this was where she wants to go.

Kat also teaches self-defense on the side, so be nice or she'll poke you in the eye.

Molly, Peter, Mia and Ava Lazar

Molly and Peter first heard of cohousing in a UU World article in 2004. They were immediately drawn to the idea of living in a functional neighborhood where you know your neighbors. Within a year, they moved to Shadowlake Village Cohousing in Blacksburg, Virginia with their then 1 and 3-year-old daughters. They have immensely benefited from and enjoyed their 12 years in cohousing.​​Their daughters, who are now in middle school, are so passionate about growing up in community that they created a video about cohousing that premiered last year at the National Cohousing conference.

Living in community has provided the Lazar family with both privacy and spontaneous social opportunities. Last winter, some Shadowlake members randomly invited neighbors to build an igloo. Check out the video — you may be surprised by how many cohousers fit inside!Peter and Molly are both entrepreneurs focused on providing tools and technologies to nurses for preventing medication errors in children. They are also cohousing proponents both locally and nationally. Peter is currently the President of the Cohousing Association of the United States. Together, Peter and Molly bought the Emerson Commons property and are working to make Emerson Commons a reality near Peter’s alma mater hometown of Charlottesville. ​​